Disclaimer: Who owns the Power Rangers? Oh yeah, Saban, whose legal forces could crush me like a bug.
Author's note: This is part four, count 'em *four* of Ranger Academy, and damn it I'm giddy! And ten fluffy-wuffy points to whoever correctly guesses what book inspired the format for how this fic was written. (Hint: sci-fi) And special, no, extra-special thanks to Ellen Brand for allowing me use of one of her characters. (Try to guess which one, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.) And guess which show inspired the Rotweiler and you get three point one four points of neatoness. Also, after writing this fic I promise I will never, ever, write in this style again. :)

Troy Rico was brought back from his memories, and once again into the
comfortable office of the Academy's in-house psychiatrist, Doctor Lita
Kino. He regarded the attractive brunette for a moment with a fowl
expression. "How do you think it makes me feel?" He asked, almost
snapping on the woman who was simply doing her job. "Its bad enough
that my command could send one of my friends to their death, but to
have it happen during a simulation?"

"But how would you know the safeties would go offline?" The doctor
asked. "When you examine the situation, there wasn't really anything
you could have done to prevent it." Her words sent the young man into
an uncomfortable place; easily identifiable as he ran his hands through
the short blonde spikes that caused a great contrast to his thin brown
goatee. "You couldn't help it."

"Is that supposed to make it all better, Doc?" Troy leaned forward in
the large leather couch and locked his hands together. "I couldn't do
anything about it, so I'm just supposed to not let it bug me anymore?"
He promptly rose to his feet, straightening the blue waistcoat with
gold trim that he held dearly. "Good, then I guess the sessions over."

"Mister Rico," Doctor Kino said to the departing Ranger, "While you
are free to leave, keep in mind that your sessions are not voluntary.
I *will* see you again tomorrow, and I *will* submit my evaluation to
the Academy Council at the end of this week. If you wish to retain
your rank I suggest you learn to cooperate a bit more." She made a
quick note of the man's behavior and dismissed him without a second
look. "Good day, Mister Rico."

Troy huffed as he stomped out the door. He became slightly
disoriented, a common side effect of leaving Doctor Kino's office.
Exiting the plush, warm room decorated in relaxing greens and browns,
and stepping out onto the cold metal grate catwalks of a school that
looked more like a steel mill than anything else often caused one to
stop and regain their senses.

He leaned over the simple railing and gazed at the figures moving
about the floor of the Academy. Not quite directly beneath him was the
collection of bold blue exercise mats that were *always* overflowing
with students. Troy couldn't help but find an empty spot amongst the
hopeful cadets.

He rubbed the device strapped over his left wrist. His team had been
issued their powers only a few hours after Weelo's death, and none of
the other members, including Troy, seemed to be too interested with a
career in Rangering anymore.

The power source for all the morphers put a truly frightening view on
the situation. The entire team was powered by a collection of Verosian
Blue Rubies that had been discovered by two of the school's founders
during a return trip to the water planet, Inus. The spectral
properties of the stones would only allow the creation of Blue Rangers,
causing an eerie tribute to the blue-skinned Norian that had died in a
supposed freak accident.

"Weird, isn't it?"

Troy merely nodded, not even setting his eyes on his redheaded
teammate, Michelle. He often found himself on the same wavelength with
the young woman, and both had a strong sense of responsibility. "They
just go right on practicing," Troy said with his eyes fixed on the
training mats. "Like nothing even happened."

"Shouldn't they?" Michelle countered, ignoring her friend's harsh
stare. "They weren't that familiar with Weelo, so why should they go
into some long mourning process over someone they barely knew? As for
me, I'm using Norian philosophy; Remember the one you've lost, but
don't let the one you've lost ruin your life. I miss him, but I'm not
going to let his absence prevent me from reaching what I came here to
do."

Michelle glanced at her morpher, taking note of the digital
chronometer's display. "Well, since you apparently walked out of your
session again, and since I have about an hour-and-a-half until mine,
whaddya say we grab Tek and get something to eat at the Surf Spot?"

"Might as well," Troy sighed. "I'll be along in a minute. Why don't
you tell Jackie about it so she knows where we are?" The red head
agreed and left his side, only to be replaced by a Kerovan in a gray
uniform.

"Ranger Rico," Zhane, the Academy co-founder and Silver Ranger greeted
the new Ranger with a weak smile. In one hand he carried a datapad.
Troy didn't want to be directly informed of the pad's message, but he
knew fully well that his team was going to be transferred to a
Rangerless planet. "Might I ask how your session with Doctor Kino
went?"

"Same as always," Troy answered with a shrug.

"That bad, huh?" Zhane shook his head. "Well, don't worry, you won't
have to put up with it for much longer." The Kerovan handed over the
datapad, speaking as the young man read over it. "Our contract was
finalized this morning. Two days from now you'll ship out and spend
the next three years protecting the good people of Syrix."

"The contract says we're to provide five Rangers." Troy displayed the
clause in question to the Kerovan. "We seem to have a small problem
with that, Zhane."

"There's an addendum," Zhane said as he took the pad. "Whoops, almost
forgot I need to sign this." He removed a light pen from the side of
the pad and scribbled his name across the top form to confirm
authenticity. "That's why we only finished this morning," the Kerovan
returned to the previous topic. "The Academy has ninety days to send
the fifth Ranger, otherwise they can request one from a closer school
or supply their own."

"What about Zords? Or are we going to be doing mainly field combat?"

Zhane pointed down to the Mechanics Floor. "Droz will set you up with
everything you need." He returned the pad to Troy and tapped it
lightly. "Make sure you sign and hold on to that. Without that your
team won't be permitted onto the planet. Sorry I can't go over every
detail, but things have been pretty insane since Andros and Ashley left
for their vacation. Everything you need should be in that packet
though."

"How are those two doing, anyway?" Troy asked about the couple Zhane
had named. Anyone who knew Andros found it difficult to believe that
the man who to plan everything had decided to take a spontaneous
temporary leave of his role as Academy Headmaster. "Any news?"

"Everything's going well. They said there was only one problem, and I
can probably guess what that is." Zhane groaned.

"The whole alien thing?" Troy assumed.

"Actually, Kerovans *are* human," Zhane corrected. "But there are
certain - Mathematical differences that could seem fairly deceiving to
an Earth human. Without going into boring explanations, Kerovans when
compared to other humans are older than they look."

"How old-" Troy was interrupted by the four low-tones that emitted
from his morpher. He lifted the device to his mouth, and pressed a
small button that would open a secure channel between himself and any
member of his team. "Troy here, go ahead."

[Rico, what are you doing?] Came a slightly annoyed but amused voice
over the small speaker. [Michelle and I are waiting on your lazy butt;
now get a move on before we come up there and drag you over to Adelle's
ourselves.]

"Right," Troy smiled. "Be right there, Tek. I just gotta drop
something off on my bunk. Shouldn't take me more than a minute." He
apologized to the Silver Ranger for his quick departure, but realized
that a moment ago Zhane was doing the same. With nothing else to gain
his attention, Troy found the nearest stairwell to his bunk so that he
may unload the package and spend one of his last few days on his home
planet with his friends.

* * *

"And how does that make you feel?"

She knew it was cliche`, but somehow Doctor Kino felt the question was
appropriate. Everyone reacts differently to death, and it was
important to determine if the young brunette sitting across from her
would be able to accept what she had seen and still function properly
as a Ranger.

Doctor Kino gave her patient a few moments to think about her answer,
which in her opinion, wasn't a good sign. Most always the question
could be answered right off the bat. When the patient thought over, or
analyzed the question by themselves, it usually resulted in a corrupted
answer.

"Jackie?" Doctor Kino asked again. "How do you feel about that?"
This time, the response was almost instantaneous. The youngest cadet
at age fifteen was what the Doctor referred to as a 'kick-start
patient'. Jackie would get so involved in her own answers that she
would have to be asked certain questions several times before she
realized she hadn't spoken aloud.

"Afraid."

Doctor Kino scribbled in her notebook as she conducted the session.
She found Jackie very different from her teammates, as the young girl
was very religious. Of course Jackie was courteous enough to take
Doctor Kino's advice and not push her beliefs on her team, but Jackie
had usually applied her own life to her faith. Occasionally she had
missed a class or two in favor of a nearby mass. Fortunately, the
instructors overlooked such an understandable absence.

"Why?"

The question sent Jackie spinning. *Why am I afraid?* she asked
herself. *That's a pretty obvious answer if I've ever heard one. One
of my friends died in a harmless practice exercise and she asks why I'm
afraid? Any one of us could die at a moment's notice that's why.*

"Jackie?" Just when Doctor Kino was about to get an answer out of the
girl, the repetitive ringing of an egg timer signaled the session's
end. And with a multitude of patients still to see, the doctor was not
able to extend her time any further. "I guess we'll have to finish
this tomorrow," Doctor Kino said.

"Sorry, Doctor Kino. I know I'm not one of your most cooperative
patients." Jackie rose to her feet, not expecting to receive a
compliment as she did so.

"Actually, you are. But we'd get a lot more done if you'd answer your
questions out loud rather than saying them over and over again in your
mind." Doctor Kino closed the file folder that held the girl's records
and slipped it into a nearby file cabinet, sliding along the ground on
her rolling chair. "I'll see you tomorrow, Jackie."

The girl waved a goodbye to the doctor, and stepped out onto the
catwalks. Almost immediately she was met by a face she didn't
recognize, but would easily learn to despise. By the time he had
offered greetings, the young man just a bit older than Jackie had made
a horrible first impression.

"Hey, Sweetheart. Maybe you can help me-"

"Sweetheart?" Jackie gagged on the word, addressing the young man
through his metallic sunglasses, quite an unneeded accessory within the
Power Chamber. "Sweetheart?" She repeated, jabbing a finger into the
young man's chest. "I am not your sweetheart, I am a Ranger!" She
tugged on the waistcoat that implied her rank. "And I am to be
addressed as such in the future."

The young man didn't seem to be affected by Jackie's statement.
"Yeah, sure thing, Toots. Anyway, I'm looking for some dude named--"
He whipped a computer-printout from the rear pocket of his jeans, and
read over the form. "Andros? Yeah," he squinted at the paper. "I'm
looking for Andros. I found the guy's office, but he ain't there."

"No," Jackie said folding her arms over her chest. "He's not. He
won't be back for a few more days. What do you need to see him for,
anyway?" She sternly held out one had until the young man slipped her
the paper. Unfolding it, she ran her eyes over the document until they
widened. "You're a new recruit?" Jackie sighed in disbelief and walked
past the young man. "Follow me," she instructed.

With Jackie's exceptional navigational skills, she had lead the young
man to the office of the only female Kerovan in the Academy, Andros'
sister and head of recruiting, Korone. "Have a seat," Jackie ordered
the young man. She dropped the document on Korone's desk and
explained. "New blood. Very *obnoxious* new blood, as a matter of
fact."

Korone scanned the document, and pulled up an according file on her
desk-mounted computer. "Ah, here we go. Scott Tyler. You were the
first to be placed on our waiting list. Sorry that you had to wait
this long, but we've only now trimmed down our cadet list. Give me a
moment to get your papers ready and Jackie can show you around the
Academy."

"Me?" Jackie confirmed. "Me? Why me?"

Korone tossed the girl a look that read as 'I thought you knew'.
"Because assuming Scott can run through the course in three months,
he'll be your new teammate. We're a new institution, Jackie. We don't
want to breach the first contract we're offered." Once the terminal
beeped, Korone loaded a blank datapad into a drive on her side of the
desk, and after a few seconds handed the clipboard-sized object to
Scott. "All set, mister Tyler. Just follow the instructions in there
and you'll be all set."

At this point Jackie was close to launching a verbal protest, but she
knew better. She would have to put up with Scott until she could come
up with a justifiable cause as to why he should not be her teammate.
She would need something more than a bad first impression and an
attitude that would most likely be whipped out of him by one of the
instructors.

"Cool. I guess I should start off with-" Scott read the datapad, and
chose one of the bulleted 'to-do' items. "-Identification. I guess I
get that at a security office, or somethin'?"

"Lead the way, Babe." Scott's words caused the girl before him to
stop and turn on him with a venomous stare. But before she could utter
any sort of protest Korone had decided to administer some minor
discipline.

"Mister Tyler," Korone said with a touch of poison in her own words,
"You're not a Ranger just yet. You will refer to her as 'Sir' or
'Ranger Wilson' until you have achieved the same position as her,
understand?"

Scott nodded with a smile. "Sure. That ain't a problem. Lead the
way-" He said to the young girl in blue. "-Ranger Wilson." Jackie
merely grunted a response.

* * *

"And how does that make you feel?"

Doctor Kino had to force the question out this time. She had to
wonder if her patients hated to hear those words as much as she hated
to say them. But for some reason, she always found that question
popping up, regardless of how much she despised it.

"I *was* mad," Michelle timidly admitted. "And then I was upset, and
felt like I might have been able to do something to stop it, but I got
over that. I learned a long time ago that things happen, even bad
things, and you just have to deal with them.

"Like I was telling Troy earlier today, I miss Weelo, I really do, but
I came to the Academy for a purpose, and I can't reach my goal crying
over someone. I'm not totally forgetting him, but I refuse to
compromise my performance over something in the past, even if it
happened a few days ago."

"It's Troy's team," Michelle corrected. Doctor Kino made another note
at that point. "But I'd say we're all a little more realistic now. I
mean, I don't think Troy's going to ask us to do something he feels is
too dangerous for him to do himself, but then again he probably never
would have. Jackie's still her old self. I think she came into this
whole thing knowing the consequences. And Tek.... Well, Tek's Tek,
y'know?"

"I see." Doctor Kino was about to document that final comment when
she was startled by her egg timer. "Time's up," she said with a yawn.
"Between you and me, Michelle, I think you made some real progress in
coming to terms with this issue. I think we could have gotten even
more done if you weren't late."

"Sorry, but I lost track of time," Michelle admitted. "Same time
tomorrow?"

Doctor Kino shook her head. "No, two days from now. I think we can
cancel one of your appointments. It gives me time to fit in your
friend."

"What friend? Troy?"

As she was stretching, Doctor Kino lightly smiled at the suggestion
that her most difficult patient would willing come in for a
double-session. "No, your new teammate. I have to put him through his
entrance psych-exam as soon as possible." When the doctor saw
Michelle's face, she knew she had said too much. She couldn't say
anything more, for the patient had just stormed from the office
muttering 'New teammate? What new teammate?'.

Michelle hung a sharp right as she blazed from Doctor Kino's office,
nearly tearing another door from its hinges as she sped down one of the
corner stairwells. When her movement had ended she found herself off
to one side of the training mats.

She scanned the sea of students for any new faces, and after a moment
or two without success decided to search for a few she did recognize.
"Troy!" She called into the mechanics area. Michelle crawled past some
of Droz's 'boys' - mechanics who love their job and not the money - And
once she had reached her team leader Michelle opened the conversation
to the topic that had her so worked up.

"Hey, what's this I heard about a new guy on the team?" She asked
flatly. Troy lifted a dark brown eyebrow a little closer to his short
blonde hair in a questioning expression. "Yeah," Michelle nodded. "I
didn't think you've heard about it either. Maybe Jackie knows
somethin-" Michelle turned her head at just the right time. From the
security office stepped the blonde in question, whose harsh expression
indicated she did not like the company walking beside her.

Jackie led the young man to her friends, and began the introductions
with a severe lack of enthusiasm. "Troy, Michelle, this is Scott
Tyler. Scott Tyler, Ranger Rico and Ranger Warren." She waved briefly
while saying, "You two can finish the tour."

"Where are you going?" Michelle asked.

"I've got work to do. We're leaving in a few days, remember? And I
don't think any of you have researched the climate, customs, or any of
that other stuff that we'll need to know once we ship out. Plus I have
to call my parents so they know where I'm going. I'll see you guys
later."

Scott eyed the blonde as she left the group. "She's very feisty," he
commented with a smile.

"And until you graduate," Troy added, "She's your boss. In fact,
she's one of your many, many bosses." Scott held up a hand, but Troy
swatted it away. "I don't care if you've already been told this,
you're going to hear it again. First, you will refrain from referring
to Ranger Wilson as such, not 'feisty'. Second, you *will* lose the
attitude and realize that you are one lucky kid to even be admitted
into this school."

Troy reached out quickly, snatching the lenses from Scott's face.
"Third, these are not permitted. Until you successfully complete the
course you will wear what your instructors tell you to wear. That goes
for sleeping and eating as well." Subconsciously, or intentionally,
Troy couldn't tell, he began to interpret the speech he was given by
the Kerovan Headmaster Andros on his first day in the Academy. "Those
mats," he pointed to the field of blue that was the training area, "Are
now your home. You will spend thirteen hours there every day and you
will learn. If you don't, someone will show you the way out."

Michelle placed a hand on Troy's shoulder. "Calm down. You're
beginning to scare him," she said all too seriously. "He's nervous
enough as it is, don't frighten the guy into failure."

"Scared?" Scott released an overconfident smirk. "I don't think so."

"Never lie to an Empath," Michelle suggested. "It only makes you look
bad." She gave Troy a light pat on the same shoulder as she removed
her hand. "See you tonight?" She asked prior to the man's nod. "Good.
Oh, and Mister Tyler, I do hope you appreciate Ranger Wilson's
efforts. After all, we had to go through this whole thing not knowing
what to expect. At least you know what to be ready for."

Michelle waved lightly to Troy before parting, leaving Scott to
wonder. "So, are you two an item or what?" Troy's short-lived sneer
quickly turned into a devilish smirk.

"You know what the best part of this arrangement is, Mister Tyler?"
Scott voiced a typical negative response. "It's the fact that I don't
have to answer any of your questions if they don't pertain to your
training."

"Well then Ranger Rico," Scott stressed the man's formal name. "Might
I ask you why I'm not allowed to wear my sunglasses, but you can have
some freaky hair style?" He pointed to the superior's light goatee of
brown and then to the short blonde spike hair. "Is hair-dye allowed in
this place?"

"For graduates, yes." Rico explained. "But this isn't hair-dye young
man, it's natural. Or at least now it is. If I could give you one
piece of solid advice, it's always stand a good deal away from
Professor Stewart when he and Professor Cestro are conducting
experiments. They tend to make a mistake or two in their calculations."

Scott scoffed. "I'm surprised someone hasn't died in this place,
yet." He said the wrong thing, and he knew it. Along with Scott, a
few random mechanics and nameless officers fell silent and for a moment
stared at the young man.

"Why do you think you're here, Tyler?" Troy asked grimly. He looked
to those around him, silently ordering them to return to whatever task
they had to do. "Now if you'll follow me, we'll get your uniform."

* * *

"And how does that make you feel?"

*And for that matter, what did you do to your hair?* Doctor Kino asked
in her own mind. Robert "Tek" Cruz was known to be a - unique
individual, not quite as wild as the Academy's chief mechanic, but
there was no telling what the young man would do once a few mere ounces
of caffeine had been pumped into him.

She casually took in the young man. He seemed to be partially
Hispanic, although his foster parents had never been able to confirm
his heritage. But Doctor Kino's focus was on Tek's shoulder-length
black hair, which for some odd reason was now a bold blue mane wrapped
into a tight ponytail.

"It was a bet," Tek answered to the wrong question, snapping Doctor
Kino from her own wondering. She forced herself to express a gesture
that said 'I don't think I follow you' in hopes of getting the young
man to explain a bit more. "Our team and the Ninjetti were having a
Pool tournament. It came down to Maggie, and myself and since both of
us were feeling pretty confident we added a side bet. The loser had to
dye their hair their Ranger color."

"And you lost." Doctor Kino assumed.

"I hit the wrong ball in." Tek admitted sheepishly. "Oh well, that's
the danger of playing blacklight pool at four in the morning after
you've just finished off a few two liters of pure sugar. I could've
won, but got so excited that I aimed for the stripes instead of the
solids."

"So I guess you're handling things pretty well then, huh?"

Tek nodded. "Yeah. Most of the team has been doing pretty good. I
mean, we haven't just put the situation behind us. I miss Weelo more
than anyone else on the team, but he's gone now, I can't change that,
and refuse to think that excessive crying or memories will bring him
back."

"That sounds fairly mature." Doctor Kino accepted. "And I'm going to
be generous today. I have a lot of paperwork to do, and I have
absolutely nothing else to question you on, so I'm going to end our
session early if that's okay with you." Tek nodded. "Well, since your
orders did come in, and you have - how long until you ship out?"

"Two days." Tek answered.

"Since you have two days before you ship out, and considering the
surprisingly stable mental condition you seem to have," she cracked a
light smile, "I think we can call an end to your appointments." Doctor
Kino extended her hand. "It's been - interesting to work with you
Robert."

Tek thanked Doctor Kino for her services and finally freed himself
from her office after a few moments time. A few twists and turns
brought him to the apartment he shared with Troy Rico. He scanned the
sparsely decorated living room, sighing at the lack of decoration. No
member of the Blue Team bothered to bring too many things from home
into their residence, as they knew it would only be temporary.

He slipped out of his blue waistcoat and tossed it on the simple couch
just before he dropped himself onto the basic piece of furniture. The
rest of his uniform consisted of a black long sleeved tee shirt and
slacks, but his hair would prevent the semi-violent illness that all
Rangers suffer in the form of color withdrawal.

Tek shivered, remembering the first time he had seen someone fall prey
to the 'disease'. It caused quite a bit of pain and dry heaving until
someone managed to wrap themselves up in their respective color once
again. Definitely not something he would want to experience.

A low tone traveled through the apartment. Grumbling, Tek gave
whoever was using the doorbell to request admittance passage into the
compact living space. "Come in," he said somewhat tired.

In stepped Droz, chief mechanic for the Power Chamber. The man was
currently wiping his always grease-covered hands with an old cloth,
proving that he's not freakish enough to ignore the necessities of
hygiene. He took a quick scan of the living room, with the long blonde
Mohawk he had tied into a small tail whipping about as he turned his
head.

"You the only one here, Papa Smurf?" Droz asked raising a pierced
eyebrow. "Where's your boss at? I haven't been able to find him.
I've checked all the offices, the labs, and even the restrooms. Not
even your friends know where he is."

"Yeah, but she's pretty busy, herself. And I wanted to get Troy's
opinion on the new Zords before the boys and I go ahead and crank out a
full batch." Droz saw Tek take an interest in the statement, and
invited him along in a casual manner. "Well, since you're the closest
thing to a technical mind on the team, you'll do. Come on, you can get
the first look at the prototype."

Droz lead Tek from the apartment located in one of the Chamber's
quieter wings, through a considerably long corridor that took the pair
onto the bottom floor of the main building. Both took a brief second
to mentally critique or compliment the teams training on the mats
before proceeding onto the mechanics floor.

Tek found it a miracle that none of Droz's fellow mechanics,
affectionately referred to as 'the boys', have ever broken an ankle by
tripping over the ever-expanding collection of loose components and
wires. He wasn't five steps into the messier of areas before he nearly
lost his footing by slipping on an iron rod that had been laying on the
ground.

"Careful," Droz warned, climbing over a large engine rather than
around it. It was often easier for someone to simply step on whatever
was in front of them instead of crawling around it slowly. "We've got
a lot of little things laying about. You could get hurt."

"Thanks for the warning," Tek grunted. He followed the mechanic into
perhaps the only open area on the floor, which seemed more like a pit
with engines and machines towering above him. In the center of the
'pit' was a relatively small item underneath a heavy oil soaked tarp.
"That's the Zord?" Tek asked. "It's a little small, isn't it."

"Why does everyone think battle mecha has to be huge?" Droz raised his
arms to the sky to imply size. "Sheesh. Did you even think for a
moment that this might be perfect for the Syrix environment?" Droz
discovered the cause for Tek's blank stare. "Oh, that's right. Zhane
told me in advance where you were headed. Oh well, without further
ado, I give you--" Droz reached out and viciously removed the tarp from
the Zord. "--the Rotweiler."

Tek was in awe of the heavily armored blue motorcycle, but still
questioned its designation. "You named it after a type of dog?" He
asked, running his hand along the gleaming metal.

"An ex-girlfriend actually," Droz corrected. "You're going to want to
morph before you try that thing out." Droz said. "You can ride it
without your powers, but for this demonstration I wouldn't suggest it."

"Gotcha." Tek nodded. He squeezed his thumb and forefinger against
his morpher, unlocking the safeties of the small gray device. He heard
the locks remove themselves, and saw the activation plunger rise from
within it's protective compartment. In the same second, he mashed his
hand down on the large blue button, and felt himself undergo not even
his fifth morph since the issuing of his powers.

The Ranger suit was blue with traces of gold running about Tek's form,
and the roman numeral four was located within a gold triangle on the
left side of his chest. The boots were standard issue, unlike the
gloves, which only extended up to the wrist. The most unique part of
the costume remained the helmet, a form-fitting faceplate of slightly
tinted tempered glass that could be flipped upward to reveal the
wearer's face.

Blue Four took a seat upon the Rotweiler, turning his head to the
mechanic. "Okay, now what?"

"See the big red button?" Droz asked, directing Blue Four's vision to
a mechanism labeled *warning*. "Push the big red button." The
mechanic forced himself to laugh evilly to establish some light fear
within the Ranger, but Blue Four knew Droz would never do anything to
hurt anyone.

Blue Four's gloved hand pressed lightly on the button, causing the
vehicle to take on more of a transformation than his own. In a matter
of seconds the motorcycle had fragmented itself, and attached itself to
Blue Four as an armored bodysuit.

The two large wheels jutted from Blue Four's back, and nearly every
inch of his arms and legs were coated in a powerful armor. Mounted
onto his wrist gauntlets were two powerful blasters, although they were
not identical, giving the Ranger the impression that each had different
functions. Blue Four found his face even more protected than before
with the cycle's windshield draped over him, and he found the heavy
protection on his chest did not hamper his movements or his breathing.

The most surprising feature of the suit was its weight. For a
motorcycle of its size, Blue Four found it difficult to believe it
could be as light as it was and still protect him from harm. But after
taking a few steps, hops, and quick jabs, he found himself in love with
the new Zord.

"Droz, I have to tell you," Blue Four's voice was clear underneath the
additional facial armor, "This is the weirdest, but coolest design
you've come up with yet."

"And we're not even done with it," the grungy mechanic replied.
"Justin's gonna be giving us the tech specs for the morphers he built
for you guys. That way, even if you aren't morphed when you're riding
these things, it'll happen when you activate the transformation
sequence. But you have to be wearing your morphers for that to happen.
These Zords are built around your powers, so unless you're morphed
you'll be carrying a few tons of steel on your shoulders."

Droz could see Blue Four patting himself down for any controls he
might be able to use to demorph. "Remember, it's built into your
powers. If you want to take it off, you have to tell it you want to
take it off."

Blue Four shrugged. For something designed by the unpredictable Droz,
it was quite an expected and standard feature. He took a stance and
spoke powerfully. "Rotweiler, power down!" Blue Four smiled as the
Zord took on its original vehicle form once more.

"You gotta keep another thing in mind," Droz added. "This baby's
cycle mode is solar powered. Whenever you can, you gotta keep it out
in the sun. I'll try to rig up some kind of solar transformer for you,
but I can't make any promises. The armor mode piggy-backs your power
supply, so that shouldn't give you any problems."

"I'll remember that," said the Blue Ranger as he powered down. Tek
shook out his blue hair, and suddenly snapped to attention. "Whoa, I
forgot! I have to call my folks and tell them what's going on." The
young man began to crawl out of the 'pit'. "The Zord looks great,
Droz. I'll send Troy next time I see him."

"You do that, Papa Smurf. We're working on a deadline, y'know."

* * *

"And how does that make you feel?"

"Afraid," Cassie said. "But not about Weelo. I'm mad about what
happened to Weelo, regardless of if it was an accident or not. I'm
actually afraid -- well, I'm afraid for someone else to tell the truth."

Doctor Kino began to chew on her pen between notes. "Who?" The
question was simple and direct, with no room for interpretation. Along
with Cassie holding back possible key elements of her current
state-of-mind, the senior Pink Ranger also had a habit of
misunderstanding the Doctor's question. Possibly intentionally.

"Well, y'know about the Phantom Ranger, right?" Doctor Kino nodded at
Cassie's question. "Well, I know it's weird -- I don't know his name,
what he looks like, or anything else about him, but something between
us just clicked. For some odd reason I have very strong feelings for
him. When the others first thought he was dead, when that report came
in from the Aqutians, I almost vomited right on my desk. All someone
has to do is remove his Power Ruby and he'll die in hours. It's very
frightening."

"So would you say a lot of your negative emotions are transferred into
worrying about the Phantom Ranger?" Doctor Kino asked. "That anytime
something bad happens to someone, you wonder if the situation could be
applied to the Phantom?"

"No, I wouldn't say that. I *do* feel bad for other people, but I
just can't help but wonder about him. It's -- I don't know what it
is." Cassie admitted. "And I think that scares me more than anything."

Doctor Kino thought about the situation for a moment, a scribbled a
detailed note on a fresh sheet of paper. "I want you to show this to
Justin," the Doctor instructed. "If he can, I want him to figure out
if there's something that's not supposed to be. I don't have to tell
you that Michelle was on the verge of an emotional breakdown before she
was diagnosed."

Cassie took the note and read it over. "Okay, if you think this'll
help."

"Have you ever talked with the Phantom about how you feel?" Doctor
Kino proposed. "Maybe you should get the test taken care of
immediately. It should only take an hour at most. If it shows up
negative I suggest you ask Zhane for a leave of absence so you can
discuss this with the Phantom himself."

"But I can't just leave," Cassie objected. "I've got a lot of
responsibilities here. With Ashley and Andros gone I oversee about a
quarter of the Chamber's daily operations. If the other two were here,
that'd be no problem, but--"

"Consider it an order, Cassie. I do have the authority to do things
like this if it helps you function better. I would've ordered Andros
to take a sabbatical, but he beat me to it. Now go get that test taken
care of, and come back with the results. If they come back showing
nothing, we'll both go down to discuss this with Zhane. Okay?"

The senior Pink Ranger threw a smile over her shoulder and stepped out
of the office without saying a word. She felt herself at an
intersection. One half of her hoped everything could be explained with
a simple latent mental ability. The other half wanted to temporarily
throw away all responsibility, speak with the Phantom about her
feelings, and finally come to terms with whatever relationship they had.

A quick ride on the turbo lifts brought her to the second level of the
Power Chamber. Normally Cassie would have chosen the stairs, but her
methodic pace would have made the journey all but endless. After a few
dozen steps, the Asian girl found herself at the opening of the Science
and Medical Lab.

She stepped through the door and onto the pure white floors. Justin
Stewart didn't have a secretary, or the abundance of walk-in patients
that justified hiring one, so a lobby was never a consideration. And
after Troy Rico's unfortunate exposure to an experiment, even less
people began to tread through the area.

There was a waiting room of sorts, however. It was roughly ten feet
wide and the same in length. The walls of the room were a heavy
plastic, allowing anyone to view into the standard portions of the lab.
Cassie could see solid walls set quite a way back into the sub-rooms,
most likely used to handle serious injuries that would be unpleasing to
the eye.

"Cassie," Justin greeted as the plastic partially slid away. He
stepped out wearing his pale blue uniform, and a white shirt
underneath. "What can I do for you?" He asked, ripping off a pair of
disposable gloves and tossing them into a nearby medical waste
container.

"Doctor Kino sent me," Cassie answered, handing over the note she was
told to deliver. "She wants some kinda brainwave scan done or
something. She thinks I might have some kinda minor psychic thing
going on."

Justin shrugged. "Anything's possible." He stepped aside and
gestured his hand to the still open transparent door. "You're lucky.
We leave the equipment set up all the time now." He led his former
teammate to a nearby chair not unlike one found in a dentist's office.
"After we diagnosed Michelle Warren as an empath, we've been scanning
everyone who steps through the door."

Cassie took her seat and continued the conversation as Justin began
attaching several miniature electrodes to her forehead. "Do we have
any other --advanced-- students besides Michelle? As far as I knew she
was the only one."

Justin nodded, still attaching wires. "She's the only confirmed case,
and even she is a low level empath. We had to help her advance herself
so she would stop sensing the emotions of everyone around her. She
would've gone nuts, otherwise."

Justin finished the last connection, and activated a terminal mounted
into the wall. "You're going to drift off once I start the test. If
you do have any abilities they're most likely residing in your
sub-conscious. But you won't feel a thing."

The Pink Ranger nodded, and Justin began his testing.

Cassie awoke the same way she had fall asleep. Quickly. To her it
felt as if a second had passed, but a look at the clock on the opposing
wall proved that almost one hour had gone by. To her immediate right,
Justin was staring at the same monitor as a 'second' ago, perplexed.

"I see a borderline level of activity," he reported. "But I don't
think it's even a factor. At this level, you should not be receiving
or broadcasting any telepathic, telekinetic, or empathic signals or
activity. Whatever the problem is, its not coming from your brain."
He tapped a few more buttons on the terminal. "I've sent the results
to Doctor Kino. She'll probably want to discuss them with you."

"Which means," Cassie sighed, "I'm taking a little vacation."

* * *

"And how does that make you feel?"

TJ leaned back on the couch, absorbing the question asked of him. How
did he feel about the whole situation? He didn't even find out about
the death of one of his friends until he had returned from his mission
of reclaiming the Hope Fortress from the Devarian known as Kibro. And
even when he was delivered the news, it was several hours after the
event had occurred.

"I can honestly say, that I have no idea how I feel." TJ relaxed even
further. "I'm very upset about losing Weelo. Cassie and I saved him
from some high-profile murderers, and we watched him tear through
everything that was thrown at him in the Academy. In a sense, we
watched him grow up.

"Then there's the possibility that the equipment failure was sabotage.
If that's true then I'd have to say I'm incredibly angered. Jerome
said he couldn't find any facts to go on, and no one has left the
Chamber since the accident, so if anyone did do the job, they did it
very well. And that's what ticks me off, that it could've been someone
on the inside.

"But then again, it could've been a freak accident like everyone else
believes. And under those circumstances, I'd say I feel helpless. I
wasn't able to save Weelo, and I wouldn't have been able to do it even
if I was standing in the Simudeck with him."

The door to the office opened, and Cassie stepped through, her face
flushing. "Oh, I'm sorry." She apologized. "I didn't know you were
still in session---"

"It's okay, Cassie." Doctor Kino said. "We've already gone over the
hour." The Doctor nodded to her patient. "TJ, if you'd like you can
schedule another appointment and we can pick up where we left off."

"I'll do that," TJ smiled as he rose to his feet and headed to the
portal. He was quite confused when Cassie wouldn't allow him to leave
the office. "Something wrong?" he asked.

Cassie nodded. "You might want to hear this too." She turned her
attention to Doctor Kino. "Justin said the scan came up negative. He
sent the results to your personal computer. I guess that means I get
to do some soul-searching, huh Doc?"

"Soul-searching?" TJ repeated. "Cassie, what on Earth are you talking
about?"

Cassie shyly asked the Doctor for a moment to speak with the young
black man outside. After a quick and positive response, the Asian girl
lead her friend out to the catwalks, and began to spill her guts on the
subject, covering most of her session with Doctor Kino and the
importance of her scan in a matter of minutes.

"I'm going with you," TJ decided.

Cassie sighed, and reluctantly denied TJ assistance. "You can't go
with me. Not this time. Teej, I appreciate you wanting to help, and I
know you mean well -- But this is something I have to do alone. Its
hard enough dealing with this situation as it is. Having a friend with
me wouldn't make it much easier."

TJ accounted for his friend's logic, and agreed. "Okay, but be
careful all right? Chances are you're not on a trip to Inus, here.
Where was he last time, the Draven mining colony?"

Cassie shook her head. She knew the senior Blue Ranger had a good
point. The Phantom was not one to stay in one place for any extended
period of time. It was a miracle that Cassie had come across him while
searching for the legendary Zordon almost two years ago. "Last time I
heard from him, he was with the Pemdra. It's about a two-hour trip by
Galaxy Glider. I'll probably stay a day or so."

"You think you'll make a two hour trip and carry all your supplies on
a Galaxy Glider?"

"What can I do?" Cassie asked. "Andros gave the set of Zords Droz
made for us to the Ninjetti once they took over for us. And I doubt we
have an extra ship laying around." She saw a smile crawl across TJ's
face. "What? We do?"

"We have two actually." TJ explained. "Remember when Dark Spectre
recaptured Korone, and Andros and Zhane went onto the Dark Fortress to
bring her back?" Cassie nodded. "Remember what they brought back with
them?"

Cassie's eyes lit up. "Velocifighters!" She recalled. "I can use one
of the old Velocifighters! Oh, thank you Teej!" She gave her friend a
quick embrace. "I've got to make sure the Phantom's still where he was
and leave as soon as possible."

"Wait a minute," TJ demanded. "You're leaving now? What's the rush?"

The Asian girl's excitement quickly lessened, her smile inverting into
a frown. "I can't explain it, TJ. If I could, you'd understand. But
this is something that's consuming a large part of my life right now,
and I don't feel like I can handle anything else until I get this
straightened out."

At that moment, Doctor Kino emerged from her office. She pardoned
herself for the interruption and continued on. "Cassie, why don't we
head down to Zhane's office and we can take care of all lose ends. TJ,
if you would excuse us for a few moments?"

With given approval, Doctor Kino began escorting the Asian girl down
the catwalks. "Are you nervous?" She asked. "About what you're about
to do? Because I know I would be in your shoes." The Doctor flashed a
quick smile.

"I'm terrified." Cassie revealed. "But either I do this, or I'll
probably never be able to keep a steady relationship with anyone." The
Asian girl leaned over the rail for a moment to watch the newly
inducted Rangers collectively known as the Blue Team squabble with each
other.

"I wonder what's up with them," Doctor Kino thought aloud.

"My guess is one of them finally asked about Syrix. I can't say I
blame them for being a little ticked about the situation," Cassie
admitted. "If I found out I was going to spend three years on a desert
planet, I'd be a bit mad, too." The senior Pink Ranger was taken aback
by Doctor Kino's harsh stare. "Hey, they can survive. The B'nari have
been living there for a hundred and fifty years. But those four should
be used to it after a few weeks."

Cassie shook her head, and followed the Doctor to the Silver Ranger's
office. The entire proceedings were a blur to the Asian girl. Did the
situation gain any more of a reaction than necessary? Was Zhane's
reaction enough? All she knew was that after a few minutes of
explaining her reasons, she was out on the catwalks once again.

The nervousness she felt had evaporated. Now that she had full
permission to leave, Cassie felt afraid. Her mind was filled with
questions that left her feeling empty. What would the Phantom say when
he saw her? What would she say to him? What would he think of her
motives for seeing him again?

She put those questions aside. They would all be answered in due
time. *Time,* she mused. Not exactly something she had an abundance
of at the moment. If she were to see to Phantom, she only had enough
time to grab a few days worth of supplies and say quick good-byes to
all of her present friends.

As she headed for her quarters, she looked down to the Mechanics Floor
once again. There still was the Blue Team, however their moments of
stress had seemed to have passed, and the four were once again enjoying
their lives as much as possible.

In a way, Cassie found herself envying the soon-to-be departing
Rangers. They may not see Earth, their friends, or their families
again for three years, but at least they knew what awaited them at
their destination.

-- Epilogue --

The alarm sounded softly, but still managed to cut through the silence
enough to wake Troy Rico from a jittery slumber. The low but
irritating tones usually caused the Blue Ranger to throw back his
covers, and smack his hand down atop the alarm controls to deactivate
it in the most violent of manners. Then, he would usually spring out
of bed, ready to meet any of the day's challenges head on.

Today was different. To Ranger Troy Rico, the past two days had not
happened. He could recall fragmented memories, events, but the time
had passed too quickly for his liking. Today would be the last day he
would reside on his home planet for some time to come.

Twelve hours from now, he would be on a transport to the Hope
Fortress. There, a representative of the B'nari, a once nomadic tribe
that had finally settled on the desert world of Syrix, would carry the
team over to their new home for three years. A world where Troy Rico
would only see the Earth in the form of a small blue star.

He lay on his bed for a moment, staring at the ceiling. Slowly, he
removed his interlocked hands from behind his head, and sat upright.
He swung his legs over the bed, and with a gentle hand turned off the
annoying sound of his alarm clock.

He gazed to the other side of the shared bedroom, to the bunk
containing the currently lazy form of Robert "Tek" Cruz, Troy's only
male teammate at the moment. On standard occasions, Tek was the
betting man of the group, but Troy knew his hunch was correct.

"You asleep?" The leader of the Blue Team asked.

"No."

Troy smiled and breathed a small chuckle. He knew that unless the
female members of his team had elected for medical assistance, none of
them had gotten a full eight hours of rest. Troy calculated his own as
just fewer than three, which would not make him the most loved person
during the team's transport.

He stood, tugging the wrinkles out of his blue tee shirt as he did so.
And just out of habit, Troy adjusted the fit of his white sweatpants
before slipping his feet into a pair of worn but comfortable hi-top
sneakers that he had owned for longer than he could remember.

He saw Tek roll onto his feet as well, taking note of the young man's
sleeping attire which consisted of nothing more than the slacks and
black shirt of his uniform. On any standard day, Troy would have
chewed the fourth Blue Ranger out for his actions, but decided against
it. Today was not a day to argue, it was a day to savor.

Together, both men exited their quarters and stepped out onto the cold
metal floors of the Academy where Jackie Wilson and Michelle Warren
were already patiently awaiting their friends' arrival. Without
speaking, the four banded together into their close unit as they have
done time and time again, and casually but adamantly made their way to
the Academy's front entrance.

The doors swung open before them, permitting them to step out into the
fading evening's darkness. Each inhaled deeply to smell the crisp
night air as they left the Chamber's security. And one by one, the
Blue Team slumped to the rocky ground with their backs against the
off-white walls of the Power Chamber.

Troy watched with a mixture of joy and sorrow as rays of red and
orange carefully pierced the night sky. "Take a good look at it
Rangers," he said while not taking his eyes off of the approaching
sunrise. "You won't be seeing this again for a long, long time."